Acceptance
by whereverwithyou
Summary: When the sisters mess with time, an emotional decision must be made and Piper has to learn to finally accept Prue's death.


Acceptance

_Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story are mine. They are all owned by Spelling Television. Parts of this story were taken directly from the season three episode "Sleuthing With The Enemy." (Which I don't own) Quotes and all._

_This story is set in the beginning of season five._

Paige woke up to the surroundings of the kitchen. She discovered that she'd dosed off in the middle of the night, and had been using the Book of Shadows as a pillow. She hadn't gotten anywhere. There was absolutely nothing in the book about how to vanquish a demon as powerful as Cole. She sighed with exasperation.

"Good morning, sunshine," Piper said sarcastically as she strolled into the kitchen. "Tea?"

"Sure. Just none of that herbal stuff. I need the caffeine."

"Nothing yet?" Piper asked.

"Nope," Paige replied. "It's hopeless. No Warren witch ever predicted a demon as powerful as Cole to exist, so they never wrote anything in the book about how to defeat him. Either that or there's no way to kill him…"

"Don't say that to Phoebe. She wants Cole out of her life so bad…"

"I know, I know. But we've been searching for days. Nothing on the web?"

"Nope. I'm about ready to give up on Google."

"I wish more than anything that when we killed Cole, he stayed dead."

"I know. But his human half survived the void," Piper reminded.

"Hmm… Maybe that's it," Paige thought out loud.

"What? What's it?" Piper asked.

"Do you remember when Phoebe had that potion that stripped Cole's powers?"

"Yeah. Paige, I doubt a measly potion like that would work…"

"It wouldn't work now. But it did then. All we have to do is go back to a time when Cole was still Belthazoar, throw the power-stripping potion at him, and then you blow him up."

"So you propose murder?"

"Piper, he's evil!"

"Yes, but without powers, he's also a human."

"Oh, forget it, will you?"

"But I imagine blowing up a human would be messy…"

"Then use that 'Object of Objection' spell. C'mon, if we kill him as a human, he'll never have a chance to come back."

'I dunno, Paige…"

"Well then, we'll see what Phoebe has to say about it."

…………………………………………………………

"Paige, that's a brilliant idea! You're a genius!" Phoebe said.

"Great," Paige said. "Ready to time-travel, sis?" She smirked at Piper, who glared back at her.

"Sure. Let's just get this over with quickly," Piper replied. They headed for the attic.

The three sisters stood around the book. They checked to make sure they had the power-stripping potion and Phoebe's return spell.

"Ready?" Paige asked.

"Ready," Phoebe responded.

"I just hope this doesn't add to my morning sickness," Piper said. They began reciting the spell.

"An evil being whose reign has no end, to where he can be stopped we ask to be sent. To protect the innocent from an evil force, we wish to vanquish Belthazoar."

It wasn't the best spell, but it worked. The sisters saw bright lights around them as the attic faded away and was replaced by the familiar graveyard that Cole used to hide in.

"It worked! I wonder where we are…" Paige said. Her sisters looked at her oddly. "Where in time, I mean."

That question was soon answered. The sisters saw a demon begin to shimmer into the field. They hid behind a tombstone as Belthazoar, holding a blonde Phoebe hostage, appeared in the grass.

"Can we stop shimmering all over the place?" the blonde Phoebe asked. "I'm gonna vomit."

"I remember this," Phoebe whispered. "This is when we first found out that Cole was a demon. We're back before we met you, Paige."

"I inferred that. I think I'd remember if you got taken hostage by…"

They stopped talking as the blonde Phoebe flipped Belthazoar onto the grass.

"And now it's time to vanquish you," the blonde Phoebe said.

"So what's our plan? When do we strike?" Piper asked.

"I say you freeze him and we get it over with now," Paige said.

"No," Phoebe said. "We're out in public, someone could see us. Just wait, Cole and I go into the mausoleum next. Paige can orb us in and we can attack in secrecy."

"But our powers don't work in the past," Piper reminded.

"No, they only don't work because we already have our powers in the time that we travel to. Only one set of us can use them at one time, remember? So, Piper, you should still be able to blow things up, because Past Piper doesn't have that power yet, and Paige's powers should work because hers were bound at this time," Phoebe explained. "So we just wait."

"I couldn't kill you," Belthazoar said to Past Phoebe. He had now changed into Cole. "I tried. I was supposed to. I mean, at first you and your sisters thwarted my attempts. Even when I went back in time to destroy your line on All Hallows Eve."

"Uh, Phoebe, this memory better not get you liking him again. Is it?" Piper asked.

"No. Not yet anyway," Phoebe replied. "If I have one of those feelings like he's always been good inside, I'll just remind myself of all the evil he did as the Source... and now, since he's indestructible."

"Yeah, well, not if we can help it," Piper muttered.

"That's the truth, Phoebe," Cole continued to Past Phoebe. "I admit everything else was a lie, but not that. I know you know that, too. In your heart. This isn't a mask, Phoebe. It's who I am. Who I really am. I'm half human. My father was mortal."

"You're lying," Past Phoebe said defiantly.

"How else would I bleed red? Even as my demon self. You have to believe me, Phoebe. I forgot what it was like to be human. To feel, to care. Then I met you."

"Phoebe, are you sure you're okay? This is pretty romantic, I must admit," Paige said.

"No, guys, I'm not okay. We're about to vanquish the love of my life. But I'll get over it. I have to," Phoebe insured.

"I wanna believe you," Past Phoebe said.

"Then let me prove it to you," Cole replied. "Vanquish me."

Suddenly, an electric zap came through the air and hit Cole. He flew through the air and landed on the ground.

"Krell," Phoebe recalled.

"Cole!" Past Phoebe called, running over to him. "Cole, you've gotta get up. Cole, get up!" Past Phoebe helped Cole to his feet. "Come on, come on!" They ran into the museum, narrowly missing another zap from Krell.

"Hey, that's our job!" Piper said to Krell as she emerged from her hiding place. She blew him up before he had time to react. Paige and Phoebe just stared at her. "Well, he was going to die anyway! Come on." The sisters ran into the mausoleum.

"Cole, no, don't do this. Come on," Past Phoebe said to Cole, who was leaning on a coffin. Past Phoebe helped him to a corner when the sisters ran in. "Piper, how did you get here?" Past Phoebe asked. She saw herself. "What the…?"

"We're from the future," Piper said.

"Hi," Phoebe inserted.

"Oh," Past Phoebe said, still gawking at them. "Who's the redhead?"

"Uh, you'll… find out soon enough," Phoebe said. She knew the risks of telling people in the past of the future ahead.

"Don't worry, I'm a good witch, too," Paige added.

"Why are you here?" Past Phoebe asked.

"Because…" Piper began. She looked over at Cole, who had conveniently passed out. "You can't let him live."

"What? Why not? He's good, really, he is!" Past Phoebe persuaded.

"He may be good now, but trust me, he'll turn evil again," Phoebe explained. "And you'll hate him with every fiber of your being. The problem is, he's become indestructible in our time. We had to come back to kill him."

"Phoebe!" They heard from outside. It was Past Piper.

"Well, we better do it quickly!" Paige said.

"Right," Piper said. She raised her arm to throw the potion.

"No!" Past Phoebe said. "You can't! I love him!" Tears began to form in her eyes.

"If you stop us now, I guarantee that in the future, you'll wish you'd have let us do this. Trust me," Phoebe said.

"I'm sorry, Pheebs," Piper said solemnly. She threw the potion, and then blew Cole up. Human guts flew everywhere. "Aw, jeez, I told you it would be messy, Paige!"

"No!" Past Phoebe screamed. She burst into tears and collapsed onto the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Phoebe. I had to do it," Piper said. "We'll clean up the mess."

"Piper, how could you? And how _did _you?" Past Phoebe asked.

"Uh, new power, your Piper will get it soon," Piper said quickly.

"Phoebe!" They heard Past Piper call again from outside.

"She must've heard Phoebe scream. We have to get out of here," Paige said. They unfolded the paper with the return spell on it.

"Phoebe!" They heard again. This time the voice was different, but still familiar.

"And Prue, too," Phoebe said.

"Prue?" Piper asked.

"Come on, Piper, we have to go!" Paige said.

"But Prue…"

"There's no time! C'mon!" Phoebe said.

"Alright! Sorry we didn't get to clean up the mess," Piper said to Past Phoebe. She stood next to her sisters. Past Phoebe continued to sob.

"A time for everything, and to everything it's place. Return what has been moved through time and space," The sisters recited. They were encased in bright lights and the mausoleum disappeared. It was quickly replaced with the Manor's solarium.

The sisters stood in silence for a moment.

"We did it," Paige said. "We finally did it." The sisters heard the sound of feet coming down the stairs.

"Who could that be?" Paige asked.

"I dunno. Maybe it's Leo," Piper suggested.

"Hey, what­—" But Paige didn't get to finish the rest of her sentence, because before her sisters could even blink, she had mysteriously vanished.

"Uh, Piper? Where did Paige go?" Phoebe asked warily.

"I dunno," Piper said fearfully. "This is weird." The sound of footsteps grew closer.

"Leo? Is that you?" Piper asked. She was suddenly scared. She had no idea who was coming down the hall, what they wanted with her, where Paige was, or if the Power of Three had just been broken. Phoebe braced herself as a shadow appeared near the doorway. She wondered if Piper and her were about to die. Tons of demonic images flashed through her mind. But she never expected who she actually saw.

"PRUE?" Piper exclaimed in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah…" Prue began. She gave her sisters a strange look. Before she could say anything else, Piper and Phoebe had rushed to her side.

"Oh, Prue, I missed you so much!" Tears began to form in Phoebe's eyes as she squeezed her sister tight.

"Gee, I should leave the room more often!" Prue said sarcastically. "What's wrong with you, Phoebe? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh, it's so good to here your voice again!" Piper said as she too hugged Prue.

"But how? Oh, I don't care how! I love you, Prue!" Phoebe continued, tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Prue asked.

"Prue, do you remember the leather jacket you had, er, have? Well, it wasn't Piper who got cat pee on it, it was me. I borrowed it without asking. I had to tell you, or I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life!"

"Phoebe, are you feeling okay?" Prue asked.

"We're fine, Prue. We're just fine. Never better!" Piper said as she dried her eyes and smiled. "Maybe we should take a picture of the three of us."

"Paige," Phoebe remembered suddenly. "What happened to Paige?"

"Phoebe, who's Paige?" Prue asked.

"Piper, do you think she's… dead?" Phoebe asked in shock.

"Don't say that, Phoebe, don't you DARE say that!" Piper replied. Both girls had fear on their faces.

"Who is Paige?" Prue asked again.

"Oh no," Piper said softly. "What have we done?"

"What _did _you guys do that you're so worried about?" Prue asked.

"How could killing Cole change this much?" Phoebe asked herself aloud. She thought back to when Prue died. Then it hit her. She'd been in the underworld, trying to save Cole from evil. Because she was down there, Piper had been shot and killed. Leo couldn't here Prue's calls because he was in the underworld looking for Phoebe, trying to tell her that the media had exposed them as witches. The only way to save Piper was to reset time. She was saved, but unfortunately, Prue wasn't.

"Cole?" Prue asked. "Oh, Phoebe, get over it already! He died two years ago! Just because you still think he did nothing wrong doesn't mean Future Piper didn't kill him for a reason."

"I know, Prue. Believe me, I know. He was such a bastard," Phoebe thought coldly.

"Wow. That was a quick personality switch," Prue commented.

"Piper, think about it! I never went to the underworld to save Cole! You never got shot! Well, you did, but Leo most likely healed you. Shax never killed Prue!" Phoebe ranted.

"Meaning that we never met Paige," Piper realized.

"What are you guys rambling about? Fill me in, please! Who is this Paige?" Prue asked once again.

"Uh-oh, Phoebe. It's worse than that," Piper said.

"How could it be worse, Piper? Our sister doesn't exist! Well, she probably does, but- well, you know what I mean," Phoebe said.

"Don't you remember? The media KNOWS we're witches!" Piper realized.

"What? Surely we've been able to fix that by now…" Phoebe said, totally denial.

Piper looked around. She hadn't noticed before that there were curtains on all the solarium windows. She pulled one back. There were photographers pressed flat against the window.

"Piper! Piper Halliwell! Prue, Phoebe! Are you…" Cameras flashed continuously. Piper closed the curtains and the reporters instantly stopped talking.

"Do you still think we fixed it, Phoebe?"

"Did you guys loose your memories or something? Give me a hint here!" Prue said.

"Piper, what else do you think we changed?" Phoebe wondered. "Oh my God, Piper! Are you pregnant?" Phoebe asked frantically.

Piper's expression turned to panic. "I don't know! Prue, am I pregnant?" she asked.

"I don't see how," Prue said, puzzled at her sister's question. "I mean, with this paparazzi, it's a little hard to even get out of here and go on a first date, don't you think?"

"What about Leo?" Piper asked.

"Okay, you MUST have amnesia," Prue said. "Let me see if I can jog your memory. The last thing you remember is getting shot, right?"

"I… I guess," Piper said.

"Well, first of all, Leo healed you. But because of our exposure, The Elders didn't want any other magic to be exposed. So they took Leo away from us. He only comes when we're in serious need of healing," Prue explained.

"What?" Piper asked, astonished that her husband had been taken away.

"But all the witches! If a demon attacks, they'll need healing, too!" Phoebe said.

"Leo can still see his other charges," Prue informed. "Just not us. As long as the media doesn't know that we're not the only witches in the world, the others are safe. Unfortunately, that also means that when demons attack them, we can't help. Our every move is monitored. Demons usually are smart enough to avoid attacking us. They know we're exposed and they aren't too keen on exposing their side, either."

"Why do I feel like I'm about to be burnt at the stake again?" Phoebe asked.

"Do we use our powers for anything?" Piper wondered.

"Just fending off media, doing household chores, etc." Prue said casually.

"But isn't that personal gain?" Phoebe asked.

"Who cares?" Prue replied.

"What?" Piper asked, astounded at Prue's answer. She had always been the strongest witch. No way would she just toss away the personal gain rule.

"Well, yeah. If the Elders were to give us any consequences, they could expose themselves. You wouldn't want the world to be in panic wondering if instead of God, these 'Elders' people existed, right?" Prue questioned.

"Cool, no consequences!" Phoebe said, smiling.

"No, Phoebe, not cool!" Piper said. "Paige, remember? Paige! Stay on target!"

"Right," Phoebe said. "I can't believe Cole affected so much."

"I know. We were really stupid to not think about that before we went back and killed him," Piper commented.

"What?" Prue asked. "You guys never killed Cole. Your future selves did. And that sort of means that you wouldn't have to go back and do it again, because he's already dead—"

"Yeah, yeah, we know the science," Phoebe said. "We have to fix this, Piper." Her sister was silent. "Earth to Piper," Phoebe called.

"No," Piper said. "I can't. I won't!" She stormed off upstairs.

"Uh-oh," Phoebe thought. "Uh, Prue, could you excuse us for a minute?"

"Sure," Prue said. "I'll be down here if she wants to talk to me." Prue still had no idea what Piper was upset about, but she figured she'd get filled in if need be. Phoebe headed for the stairs.

"Piper?" she asked, knocking on her bedroom door.

"Go away!" Piper shouted back. Phoebe could tell by her voice that she was obviously crying.

"Piper, I just want to talk." Phoebe opened the door a crack. Piper was lying face-down on her bed, sobbing into the sheets.

"Well, I don't!" Piper snapped, her voice muffled by the comforter.

Phoebe walked in and sat on the bed next to Piper. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about?" she asked.

"I can't lose her," Piper sobbed. "Not again."

"Oh, Piper, I know it's hard to do, but what other choice do we have?"

"We can stay here. With Prue."

"Yeah, but what about Paige?"

"We've known Prue longer."

"You don't really feel that cold towards Paige, Piper. I know it."

"But, but… we may never get the chance to see Prue again."

"Think about it, Piper. Our lives are pointless here. We can't protect innocents or use our powers anymore. We're media puppets. The love of your life can never see you again. We have no purpose, no destiny. We might as well be mortals."

"Exactly. Then we'll never have to deal with death again!" Piper said, lifting her head off the sheets. She sniffled.

"Piper, you know as well as I do that keeping the present like this will just lead to the future we visited. Remember it? Because I do. All too vividly."

"You don't know it'll turn out that way. M-Melinda's not going to be in this future, obviously."

"But what if it does turn out that way? Piper, for all we know, Paige could be dead, or poor, or sickly and dying. We've learned today how much effect one event can have. Paige is our sister. We love her. We can't just abandon her. She has a destiny, too, Piper. You can't just sit here and deny her birthright. We have to go back."

Piper sat up. "But Prue…"

"Would be extremely proud of our mature decision," Phoebe finished for her. "Piper, remember that psychology book I had?"

"Y-Yeah," Piper said through her tears. Phoebe handed her a tissue.

"Remember that question? 'If there's a fire in your apartment building, would you save one sibling or five strangers?'"

"Y-Yeah."

"And do you remember the answer we all agreed on?"

"F-five strangers."

"Exactly. Innocents are being killed every day in this world and there's no end in sight. You have to find the strength to save them, Piper. I know you can do it. And I have to deal with the fact that we may never see the end of Cole."

"I can't leave her."

"Piper, we have to accept Prue's death. She was part of the grand design. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe that's why we were sent here. To learn to move on once and for all. Now come on, we have to go get our lives back on track."

Piper shuffled out of her bedroom. She headed downstairs and into the kitchen, where Prue was sitting.

"Piper, are you okay?" she asked. Piper's tears immediately returned at the sound of her sister's voice. She knew it would be a very long time before she would hear that voice again.

"I'll be okay, Prue. Someday." Piper hugged her. She took in the scent of her hair, the comforting warmth of her body, and the softness of her skin. "I love you, Prue. So much. You've been my motivation all my life. I don't think I could get this far without you."

"I love you, too, Piper," Prue said comfortingly. She still had no idea what was going on, but she was always willing to help her sister.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Piper said. Prue looked at her funny for a second, but she ignored it.

Phoebe walked in. "I've got the spell," she said. She walked up to Prue. "Sorry I was always such a pain in the neck."

"Sorry I always gave you a hard time," Prue replied.

"I love you," Phoebe said.

"I love you, too, Phoebe."

"Alright, let's do this before I change my mind," Piper said. Phoebe reluctantly pulled away from her sister. Prue didn't ask any questions.

"Will I see you two again soon?" she asked, referring to how long it would be before they got home from whatever spell-casting mission they were going on.

"I don't know, Prue. Hopefully you will," Phoebe said. The girls took one last look at their older sister and unfolded the paper containing the spell.

"Be careful, guys," Prue warned. She was always the one who looked after them.

"We will," Piper replied. She managed to smile through her tears at her older sister.

"A time for everything, and to everything a space. Return us to the time we changed, so things fall back into place," They said tearfully as the image of Prue faded away.

"Can we stop shimmering all over the place? I'm gonna vomit."

"We're back!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"The question is, where are _we_?" Piper asked.

"There we are!" Phoebe said childishly. She pointed nearby, where Piper, Paige and Phoebe were crouching behind a group of headstones, watching Phoebe give Belthazoar an elbow-jab in the stomach. They looked towards Piper and Phoebe. Their Piper looked around, confused.

"All these Phoebes are giving me a headache," she said.

"What are you doing here?" Paige asked.

"Hi, Paige!" Phoebe waved.

"We have… we have to stop you. You can't do what you're about to do," Piper said difficultly.

"Why?" their Phoebe asked.

"Because Cole affects more than you know," Phoebe explained. "We killed him, and our present is bittersweet."

"Bittersweet? What do you mean?" Paige asked.

"Well, Paige," Piper said, "you may have noticed that you're not in the picture here."

"We don't even know you in our world," Phoebe said.

"Cole changed _that_ much?" Paige asked, dumbfounded.

"Well, yeah," their Phoebe added. "He was why we had to reset time, which made… Prue die." Their Phoebe had just realized who existed in their future.

"It's not as good as it sounds," Phoebe said.

"I'll say! I'm not there!" Paige commented.

"The media knows about us. That brings me one step closer to burning at the stake in 2009," Phoebe said. "Leo's been taken away from us. Because no demons want to expose themselves, they don't come to us. We can't vanquish them. They attack other witches instead, but because of the media and our lack of orbing, we usually can't save them. Our destiny is gone. We lead pointless lives."

"Wow," their Phoebe said. "We really should've thought things over before barging into the past like this."

"Boy am I glad we didn't attack yet. Come on, let's go home," Paige said.

"But what about Prue?" their Piper said. "I want to see her."

Piper sighed. "I know you want to see her. I know how much it hurts. I know how hard it is to take her place. But trust me, everything happens for a reason. You have to accept her death and move on, Piper. I know you can," she said. "And if you don't believe me, go turn your life into a dystopia and see for yourself. Please, Piper. I can't get over her if you can't."

Their Piper sighed. She looked back at Past Phoebe and Cole. "Where's the spell?" she asked. Her voice was shaking, but she knew what she had to do.

"A time for everything, and to everything it's place. Return what has been moved through time and space." With that, Paige, both Phoebes, and both Pipers disappeared.

Phoebe sat up straight in bed. She looked at her calendar, then her watch, then made sure she still had the picture on her dresser. It was an old picture of Piper, Phoebe, and Prue as little kids. They were sitting on the Manor stairs with their mother. A little while ago, Phoebe had found a photo of Paige as a baby. She had cut her out and glued her in with the rest of the family. She was so happy to see that the picture was still there. They'd done it. Time was back on track. It was the morning after the day they'd first traveled back in time.

Phoebe wandered through the upstairs hallway, looking in all the rooms. She wondered what it would be like if Prue _and_ Paige lived in the Manor together. She silently peeked into Piper's room. Her sister was sitting by the window, looking blankly out into the street.

"Hey Piper," Phoebe said softly.

"It's still so hard to accept," Piper said slowly. "That Prue's never coming back. That she was supposed to die."

"I know. But we have to stay strong. Cole's still alive. And you have a baby coming. Prue wouldn't want us to dwell on her forever. She'll still be with us in spirit," Phoebe advised.

"Shouldn't you be telling people that crap through your job?" Piper asked.

"It's not crap, Piper. And I don't feel like going to work today, anyway. I want to stay here. There was nothing you could do to save Prue that wouldn't compromise the rest of reality, Piper. You know that."

"I know. But I'm always so strong. I'm the oldest now. I have to be strong. But around her… I felt so helpless again."

"You don't have to be strong all the time, Piper. There's no need to hide your emotions. Prue did it so many times, and you remember her grudge against dad."

"Right," Piper said. "I just feel like I should be her replacement. I'm sorry I didn't express this before. I wish Prue could be here to reassure me."

"I know, Piper. But she'll always be with you if you believe. I'm sure she's perfectly content with mom, Grams, and Andy in heaven. And saving her would mean she died in vain, anyway. Remember when Andy died? Prue could have easily gone and saved him, but he didn't want to die for nothing. We told Prue he was a protector of the innocent, just like her. She wouldn't want to have died for nothing. She risked her life everyday for others. She knew there was a possibility that she wouldn't come back. Move on for her, Piper."

"You're right," Piper said. She smiled briefly and stood up. "We've got a demon to vanquish."

"Piper, are you sure you're okay?"

"It still hurts sometimes. But I'll move on. Y'know, Phoebe… I always thought I found my strength in Prue. I didn't realize that you've helped me along the way, too. So thanks."

"You're welcome, sis."

Piper slowly walked to the door, leaving Phoebe on the bed. She stopped in the middle of the room and took a deep breath.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

"Amen," Phoebe whispered.

Piper silently walked out into the hallway.

_Prue smiled approvingly as she looked down over the Halliwell Manor. She let Piper and Phoebe be and floated downstairs. She was ready to go back up to heaven for that day, but there was one more thing she decided to do. Paige was sleeping on the couch. The Book of Shadows was open on the coffee table. Prue magically and invisibly closed it. She then left her sisters in peace for a while._

THE END


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